


Tangents-- Scenes Surrounding "A House or a Home"

by KayQy



Series: Unsorted [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Coulson is in every house, Drabbles, Multi, character and relationship tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-02-19 05:30:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2376545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayQy/pseuds/KayQy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles exploring other stories and characters touched on in "A House or a Home".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tony and Yinsen

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the first story's focus on Coulson's POV and the theme of the various Houses, there were a lot of character moments and backstories that I just couldn't fit more than a reference to. So if you wanted more Tony, or Bruce, or Steve, or Natasha, or... (you get the idea) ....here's where I get to play around with some of those.
> 
> NOTE: When I say drabbles, I am not kidding. Most of them should not be as short as this first one, but please don't expect The Complete Story Of How Tony Stark Became Iron Wizard or anything. They're just.... moments. With maybe a few headcanons tossed into the notes.
> 
> Also, while I can promise you at least the first few drabbles will come pretty steadily, after that I'll just post them whenever I come up with them, which will be definitely at some point between tomorrow and never. >.> Just remember, each drabble stands alone so you don't have to worry about cliffhangers, and the subscribe button is our friend.
> 
> Love you guys!

Tony came to in a dark cave, something metal embedded in his chest, attached to a Muggle battery covered in runes, of all things.

"Careful," a voice said as Tony scrambled to get up. "Don't disconnect it; it's what's keeping you alive."

Tony sat up cautiously and glared at the thin, frail-looking man sitting next to him. "What do you want?" He tried to ignore how his voice chose _right then_ to crack mid-sentence.

"At the moment, for you to not die."

Tony straightened up and tried to look less like a frightened kid and more like the Stark patriach that Obie kept reminding him he was now. "Whoever you are, the Stark family doesn't submit to threats."

"You don't recognize me, do you." It was not a question, and despite the situation, the man sounded almost amused.

Tony frowned. "Should I?"

The older wizard's eyes crinkled a bit. "Ho Yinsen. I was the head of the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts until a year ago, when I was... aggressively headhunted by our gracious hosts." He gestured at the dark, dank cavern they were currently ensconced in. "I believe you paid me a visit a time or two, what with all your creative experiments."

"My projects do _not_ send me to the Hospital Wing," Tony said. "Much. But, uh, nice to meet you? And thanks for saving my life." He gingerly touched the spell--machine-- _thing_ , in the middle of his chest. Then he glanced up and saw Yinsen's expression. It was now the opposite of amused. "What?"

"Don't thank me yet," Yinsen whispered. "Not until you learn what I've saved your life for."


	2. Bruce and Betty

The first day Bruce Banner came back to Hogwarts, in what would have been his fifth year if the Accident hadn't interrupted... everything, Betty Ross came into the empty classroom he'd been granted as a laboratory and quietly started setting up stations for both his experiments and her own potions studies.

"You shouldn't be here," Bruce said. "Headmaster Fury said--"

"I don't care," said Betty. She placed her main cauldron on a desk, frowned, and moved it to a sturdier one.

"It's not safe here."

"I don't care."

" _I'm_ not safe--"

"I don't c--"

" _YOU SHOULD CARE!_ " Bruce roared, hanging on to his sense of self by his fingernails. "I nearly killed you last time! Just because my control is a little bit better now doesn't mean it won't happen again! It doesn't matter how much I care about you if _He_ doesn't even recognize you! You should be terrified of me!"

"I am!" Betty shouted back. "I'm scared of you every day, and I'm scared _for_ you even more! And I didn't stop being scared even when you ran away. So I don't care how scared I am, if I'm going to be scared no matter what, I'd rather be scared _with_ you!" She took a deep breath, and added more softly, "I want to help, Bruce."

Just like that, all the rage washed out of Bruce, leaving him drained and empty. He clutched the table to keep from sinking to the floor. "Promise me you'll run if it looks like He's getting out," he whispered.

"I promise," said Betty. "And I won't poke you to prove that he's _not_ coming out. Which I hear Stark has already tried."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Tony's.... Tony."

"Yeah," Betty said.

Bruce fiddled with his robe. It was his spare robe from third year, but the Engorgement Charm had left it bigger than "you'll grow into it" could justify. Especially since the growing he was most likely to do would be far more than the robe could handle. "Do you think you could tweak my robes a little bit? My wand work's a little rusty."

Betty smiled. "Of course."

If Bruce let her fingers brush his as he handed her the robe, well.... it was the most he would allow himself for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the Accident (in which Bruce was trying to cure his lycanthropism and instead turned it into a new, more complex, much _greener_ curse), Bruce spent the next couple of years on the run in the Muggle world. He'd left his wand with Betty, since the ban on underage magic would have located him as soon as he used it. But he'd still tried to help the other Muggle runaways he'd met as much as he could.


	3. Steve and Bucky

Steve first found the Mirror of Erised shortly after his mother died.

He'd been looking for a quiet, out-of-the-way place to cry, because while all the adults kept telling him that yes, even Gryffindors were allowed to cry, it still felt vaguely like he was letting his House down to do it in front of other people. So he found a disused room that was cluttered but not so dusty that it would set off another of his coughing fits, and tucked himself in between a tall mirror and a cabinet. Only when he glanced up at the mirror, he saw not only himself in the reflection, but his mother as well.

Though he realized quickly that it was just an image, not a ghost or worse, her soul trapped in the mirror, he still couldn't help but sneak away every chance he got to sit in front of the mirror and gaze at his mother, alive and happy-- at himself, strong and healthy and not a drain on her energy -- even a vague image of a father that hadn't died before Steve was born and left her to raise a weak, sickly child alone. He spent hours just watching the image of a happy, healthy family together. But soon enough, looking just made him feel empty. It was a pretty picture, but nothing he could do would ever make it real, even if Steve had been the greatest wizard of all time. Was there anything someone as small and weak as him could do to make _anything_ better?

As soon as he thought that, the image changed to show Steve, just as he was, helping that new American kid Barnes fetch his spellbooks from the lake, and he realized that his greatest desire had changed, from something he could never have to something he could actually do. So he went and did it. And by the time he'd helped retrieve and dry the spellbooks, and confronted the bullies that'd thrown the books in the lake in the first place, and Barnes had joined the fight more to keep Steve from being mashed to a pulp than to defend himself, they were fast friends, and by the end of the term the whole school was used to referring to "Steve and Bucky" as an inseparable unit, and Steve was going home with Bucky every holiday.

*

The better part of a century later, when Steve Rogers faced the Winter Sorceror and recognized his best friend, but that friend couldn't recognize him through decades of Imperio curses and Obliviate spells, the first thing he did -- well, the first thing after making sure everyone else was safe -- was hunt down that room in Hogwarts with the Mirror of Erised. Not to dream about or wish for the past, but because he knew how it worked. What he desired most in the the world was to know how to save Bucky. If the Mirror would just show him that, he could handle the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make Bucky an American (probably Muggle-born or half) transfer student because it'd be /extremely/ unlikely for a Brit to name their kid after a US president. And then I decided that since Steve is usually considered Irish-American in fandom/comics, here he would simply be Irish. So now we can all imagine Steve Rogers with an Irish accent (and possibly a Celtic knot in place of his iconic Stars-and-Stripes). You're welcome. XD


	4. Tony and Rhodey

"I can't believe you changed the name without telling me."

"First, it was the Ministry, not me, second, we don't need your permission, Tony."

"I'm not saying you do, though clearly you should if this is the kind of judgement call you make without me."

"I'm supposed to represent safety and security to the average witch and wizard, and most of them just aren't comfortable with the name Warlock Machine. It's just too..."

"Mechanical?"

"Yes."

"I've been blending magic and mechanics for over a decade now, you'd think they'd be over this hidebound superstitious bull--"

"We're talking about the wizarding community, Tony, you're the one that keeps saying it takes most of them a decade to change their socks, let alone their ways of thinking. It's been just long enough that the dazzle of the suits has worn off--"

"Excuse you, the Iron Mage has still got plenty of dazzle."

"That's because you glue glitter onto your armor."

"It not glitter, it's refractive shielding molded into the alloy. The sparkle is just a fabulous side effect."

"The point is, the initial excitement has faded, and the older generation's still unsettled enough by the concept that we don't need to go shoving it in their face."

"Fine, but you thought _Iron Patriarch_ was an improvement?"

"It tested well in focus groups."

" _Focus groups?_ Since when does the Ministry use focus groups?"

"Since the new Minister cares more about looking good than doing-- you didn't hear me say that."

"Sure, sure, I'm just proud of you for admitting that much."

"Guess you're rubbing off on me."

"Not now, my butterbeer, we're in public."

*cough* "You're incorrigible."

"Thanks, love you too. But seriously, who looks at you and thinks 'this man is a patriarch of wizarding society'? You're not even a father. Unless you've been holding out on me. Have you got a litter of mini-Rhodeys out there you never told me about?"

"You found me out. I'm really only with you to help pay the child support."

"As long as it's not alimony, I draw the line at alimony."

"Trust me, I've never married anyone."

"Wanna change that?"

"Tony, I told you, no proposing in the middle of an argument."

"What argument? I thought we were having a friendly debate, a little constructive criticism...."

"There's nothing constructive about this, you're just complaining."

"And in that vein, my Fizzing Whizzbee, don't get me started on the paint job."

*groan* "Believe me, if I could stop you I would."

"Seriously, I have seen teenage girls wearing too-small British flag t-shirts that were less blatant."

"Tony, could you just let it go?"

"No. You've let the Ministry desecrate my baby."

"The suit doesn't actually belong to you anymore, you know."

"Technically you stole it and I just never demanded it back--"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Tony."

"Thank you, I will."

"Anyway, in the end, the name and the paint job don't matter. What matters is performance, and that has only gotten better."

"Oh, really? I suppose you think you could take me?"

"Put on the suit and let's find out, genius."

"Usual stakes?"

"Or we could sweeten the pot..."

"You're on. Race you home, Honeydukes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey graduated from Hogwarts a few years before Tony and quickly started rising through the ranks to become one of the most respected Aurors of their timer. Summer before Tony's last year, they had a hot, torrid affair that ended in a violent fight and Rhodey "stealing" the Warlock Machine armor. They didn't talk to each other again for a couple years, but Tony never made Rhodey give it back, either. Eventually they repaired their friendship, saw other people, until they hooked up again at Pepper's wedding several years later, and the rest, as they say, is history. (Actually, Tony said, "I think we just made history," right after their first round that night, and Rhodey laughed and hit him with the pillow.)
> 
> The "usual stakes" mentioned in the dialogue above are _exactly_ what you're imagining, yes. Also, I'm pretty sure Tony gets around Rhodey's "no proposing in the middle of a fight" rule by asking him first thing the next morning, before they have a chance to start arguing again. Sure, another argument _ensues_ , but it ends in Rhodey saying yes, and that's what counts.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Also I know that I called Tony the "Iron Wizard" in the original story, but let's be real, "Iron Mage" fits much better and we can all just pretend that's what I wrote in the first place. In fact, I may just take a Time Turner and go edit that in and then NOBODY WILL KNOW OTHERWISE, MWAHAHAHAHA.~~


End file.
